1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cloth product having an antitheft device attached thereto and method of making same, and in particular to such a cloth product which is launderable and utilized in hospitals, nursing homes, and similar facilities.
2. Prior Art Statement
A serious problem in hospitals, nursing homes and similar health care facilities is the theft of bedroom and bathroom linens as well as thefts of items of wearing apparel such as gowns, scrub suits, shirts, pajamas, and the like of the types worn on the premises by patients and health care professionals such as doctors, nurses, and hospital assistants.
In an effort to solve these thefts, various techniques have been employed heretofore including the attachment of metal members to the various cloth products by various means. Each cloth product thus provided with a metal member is then capable of being detected once such product is moved through a magnetic field.
However, it is a simple matter to remove some of the previously proposed metal devices from their associated cloth products without damage thereto whereby it would then be easier for a theif to steal the product without being detected.
The cloth products which have been candidates for theft are launderable cloth products and in the past metal members have been attached to such products for antitheft purposes. However, the previously used metal members have been unsatisfactory because they tend to corrode or are attacked by the chemicals used in the laundry water during laundering of the cloth product. The net result is an unsightly staining or spotting of the cloth product. Further, in some instances the chemicals used in the laundry water produce a chemical reaction with the metal member causing deterioration thereof and often premature failure of the cloth product adjoining such metal member. In other instances where a metal member has been used in a cloth product of the character mentioned and wherein such metal member is disposed within a hem thereof, there has been a tendency for the metal member to move around or pierce the fabric causing premature failure of the portions of the cloth product which define the hem.
The net result has been that previous launderable cloth products having antitheft metal members attached thereto have only been capable of being laundered as few as about two dozen times and thereafter the antitheft device was either ineffective due to deterioration therof or the cloth product was so badly stained or spotted due to the action of laundry chemicals on the metal member that it was necessary to discard the cloth product prematurely and thereby incur a substantial added expense in the operation of health care facility, or the like.
Accordingly, it is apparent that previous cloth products of the character mentioned have deficiencies.